Boxoffice-July.1995

CANNES REVIEWS
In the key roles, Hugh Grant plays Meredith
Potter, an exacting director of a
repertory company whose desperate
town is still recovering from years ofbombardment;
dreaming of escape from the
blue-collar aunt and uncle who care for
her, a motherless girl, Stella (Georgina
Gates), joins the rep as assistant stage
manager and falls in love with Potter;
with ticket sales slow for the rep's season,
a much-admired actor, PL. O'Hara (Alan
Rickman), comes aboard for a run of
"Peter Pan". Not only does audience turnout
increase, but Stella is able to matterof-factly
lose her virginity with O'Hara in
her continuing pursuit of understanding
life. Although it
strains credulity, what comes
nextbetween Stella and O'Hara
(who still pines for a young
woman who'd exited the Isles
years ago) carries a powerful
emotional impact.
As does the film as a whole.
What will make this a tough sit
for mainstream stateside audiences
when Fine
Line begins
its rollout late this month, however,
are the movie's themedarkness
and desperation
reside inside every human
soul— and its dialogue, which
with its Liverpudlian lingo
sometimes resists decipherization.
(The name of the film's
costume trainee— one Eimer
Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh— symbolizes this
difficulty.) The usually light Grant performs
admirably in this darker turn, and
Rickman is equally on the money, but it's
Gates who captures the most attention,
not only because her character is the
film's focus but because she seems to
inhabit Stella's cells. Unlike those of
Newell's recent optimistic work, the denouement
here is depressing, but for specialized
audiences who value artistic
excellence this might be a minor-key
masterpiece.— KiHi Williamson
SAFE •••1/2
Starring Julianne Moore.
Directed and written by Todd
Haipies. Produced by Christine Vachon.
In Cannes' Directors Fortnight. A
Sony Classics release. Drama. Rated R
for a sex scene and some language.
Running time: 118 min.
What would you do if you discovered
your environment was toxic— so toxic
you couldn't live in it anymore? That's
the dilemma facing Carol White (Julianne
Moore) in "Safe." Moore is fascinating
as an affluent housewife whose
insulated existence in Southern
Galifornia's San Fernando Valley is presumed
"safe." The wife of a corporation
man, she's demure and pleasant as she
attends to her routine— picking up the
dry cleaning, meeting friends for lunch,
driving the Mercedes to the mall. Suddenly,
she begins experiencing anxiety
attacks, nose bleeds and fits of vomiting.
FLASHBACK: NOVEMBER 10, 1958
What BOXOFFICE said about....
FATHER PANCHALI
[For the first time in four decades, a classic film from India was slated
at Cannes. Satyajit Ray's "Father Panchali," which won the fest's Human
Document Prize in 1956, was set for a May 18 Director's Fortnight
screening presented by the Merchant & Ivory Foundation and the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive, which have
restored many of the late director's works. This summer, Sony Classics
continues its rollout of "Father Panchali" and eight other Ray titles.]
As the first major Indian film to be
shown in the U.S., this tragic and truthful
drama about life and death in a povertystricken
Brahman family is powerful,
out-of-thc-ordinary fare for art-house patrons.
Produced and directed by Satyajit
Ray, who also wrote the screenplay, this
has won many awards, including at
Cannes — an exploitable factor for class
^ y^ bookings. Although beautifully photo-
•'5lfc,
graphed (many shots are like tapestries)
^"^
and splendidly acted, the picture's pace is
too deliberate and the theme too depressing
for general audiences.
But, for those discerning moviegoers
who appreciate the unusual or exotic, it
will prove an unforgettable experience.
The acting is intensely real, with Uma Das
Gupta giving a sensitive portrayal of
Durga, the young girl who steals fruit for
her old grandaunt but loves her mother and little brother, and Chunibala
Devi is both touching and amusing as an aged crone. The latter's pitiful
death in a field, alone and unwanted, is a dramatic highlight. In the end,
after more heartbreak for the devoted family, they set out hopefully for
another city with their meager belongings.
Her physician, a paternal type, believes
her problems are but psychological.
Xander Berkeley is stunningly cold as
Carol's husband, Greg. His relationship
with his wife is shallow and uncommunicative
as the two play out their traditional
marital roles. Eventually, it becomes apparent
that Carol's illness results from
environmental sensitivity; she can no
longer tolerate traffic fumes, perfume
fragrances and the everyday chemicals
surrounding her. She leaves for an Albuquerque
holistic center whose sterile environment
comes complete with face
masks, oxygen tanks, purified water and
foods with reduced mold antigens. Carol
begins to metamorphosize as she's forced
to live life on its own terms.
The multilayered "Safe" takes a hard
look at our world. It's a beautiful movie,
featuring haunting music and bold visuals.
But it's anything but comfortable:
This film will give audiences a frightening
outlook on their world. In "Safe,"
which Sony Classics had slated for a solo
debut in New York in late June,
writer/director Todd Haynes ("Poison,"
"Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story")
once again takes thought-provoking subject
matter and turns it into a meaningful
visual commodity. —Pat Kramer
LISBON STORY ^^1/2
Staning Riidiger Vogler and Patrick
Bauchaii.
Directed and written by Wim
Wenders. Produced by Ulrich Felsberg
and Paolo Branco.
In Cannes' Un Certain Regard. No
distiibiitor set. Mystery. Not yet rated.
Running time: 105 min.
Winner of three major awards at previous
Cannes fests (for "Paris, Texas,"
"Wings of Desire" and "Faraway, So
Close"), writer/director Wim Wenders
finds himself out of the competition selection
and in the less prestigious Un
Certain Regard sidebar. And with good
reason. Moving him ever closer to complete
incongruity, Wenders' latest effort
showcases both the best and worst of the
famed German auteur's aesthetics.
The mostly English-language "Lisbon
Story" centers on the curious adventures
of a movie sound technician (a compelling
Rudiger Vogler) who bolts to the
Portuguese capital at the urgent call of a
filmmaker friend for whom he's been
assembling a soundtrack. Upon his arrival,
he discovers his friend has disappeared,
leading the technician into an
apparently thickening web of intrigue.
July, 1995 R-55